Development of High Performance Aluminium Alloys
For Additive Manufacturing

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 8 AT 3 PM CEST/9 AM EDT

SPEAKER: Bharat Mehta

Additive Manufacturing, particularly the powder bed fusion–laser beam (PBF-LB) process, has become a leading choice for producing complex geometries that are not possible using conventional manufacturing methods. While the process enables both novel product design and alloy design, the latter has been slower to be fully exploited. As a result, the full potential of the PBF-LB process has yet to be realized, creating a growing need for alloy compositions specifically designed to leverage the process.

In this webinar, two CALPHAD-assisted alloy design approaches for high-performance aluminium alloys will be presented: alloying and ex-situ mixing. The design objective was to achieve a yield strength exceeding 450 MPa, maintain high-temperature strength up to 573 K, and provide good general corrosion resistance.

The resulting Al–Mn–Cr–Zr-based alloy system demonstrated yield strengths of 250–500 MPa, elongation to failure of 5–25%, and bending fatigue strength of 140–200 MPa. In the as-printed condition, strengthening was achieved through a combination of solid solution strengthening and grain refinement. Following direct ageing heat treatment, additional precipitation hardening was observed.

Long-term isothermal ageing and high-temperature tensile testing showed performance exceeding that of most commercially available aluminium alloys. These novel high-performance alloys expand the available material performance envelope while completely avoiding critical or rare earth elements.

This webinar will demonstrate how computational alloy design, combined with tailored compositions for PBF-LB processing, can unlock improved material performance and highlight the value of integrating CALPHAD tools into modern alloy development.

From Challenge to Insight Series

This webinar is part of the webinar series From Challenge to Insight: Thermo-Calc for Real-World Materials Challenges.

Running from September to November 2026, the series features webinars presented by Thermo-Calc experts, each focusing on a different area of the software and demonstrating its application to real-world challenges through detailed use cases involving real alloy systems, materials, and industrial processes.

Join us to explore practical examples and learn how Thermo-Calc software can support your own work. 

Register for the Other Webinars

Computational Aqueous Thermodynamics for Corrosion Studies │ Thursday, September 24 at 3 PM CEST/9 AM EDT